Book Blog Critical Framework-Ashley

    While reading Critical Framework,  one of the studies that stood out for me was the Poverty, Power and Action Study highlighted in Chapter 2.  The study focuses on the right to health and well-being of children. While reading this study I enjoyed how both teachers focused on providing students access to information that was important for them to know. The book states that “Article 17 of the United Nation Rights of the Child states that ‘children have the right to get information that is important to their health and well being’ “ (Allen & Alexander, 2013, p.22). In addition to bringing students’ attention to what was important to them, the teachers also incorporated literacy to show how poverty is perceived through books. In return the students became very excited about their participation in the project and the teacher allowed them the freedom to choose which entity they wanted to take on.  Later on their idea of creating the Plants for Peace Project was born from their interaction of literacy text.

    When I think about the connection between my students’ project and the study from the critical inquiry framework, I think about the possible strong impact literacy can play a role in their projects. In the case study of Neher and Smith, literacy played a role in getting students excited about their projects and coming up with the garden themed project. I believe the same can happen with my students. I think gathering books about classroom culture, friendship, respect, etc… can expose students to various ways these characteristics are expressed throughout text and to get them excited about implementing the same within their classroom. I believe incorporating the same approach will guide students in the direction that they want to go for their projects and create the framework for the small groups to impalement the project.

    Lastly, I reflect on the U.N. rights of a child and I think the right that aligns most with our class project is Article 12 which states: “Respect for views. Children have the right to say what they think should happen and have their opinions taken into account” (p.19). Respect is something that we have discussed a lot about in our class and it is something that will probably be one of the key focuses of our project. Introducing students not only to the terminology of respect, but also exposing them to their right to have it, is a very powerful tool that I believe will help drive our class project. 

After a tough month in October, I can say that I think things are slowly starting to change for the better in my class. So far this month I have been able to implement more writer's workshop techniques in my class. Before we let out for the Thanksgiving holiday, I had some students write some some really good pieces about what they were thankful for this holiday season. A few even tied in some Social Studies content about being thankful for freedom, civil rights, etc.. (yay!). It was really a proud moment. I realize that I need to celebrate these moments more in my classroom. I believe it will help students to feel encourage and motivated about their learning.

Starting in December I will be moving from teaching ELA and Social Studies to teaching Social Studies and Math. I feel encouraged to teach math considering we just finished our math course with Dr. Smith. This will be a great opportunity to start teaching math through CGI.

The toughest part about this school year has definitely been the social dynamics within my classroom . I've been able to increase the time I spend with students and build teacher to peer connections. Moving forward I do want to focus more on building peer to peer connections. I've decided to take the last 10 mins out of the day to start a new ritual of team building with my students. I think incorporating a small activity at the end of each day in which students are able to work together will start to build the positive connections within my classroom that has been missing. In addition just taking opportunities for us to spend time together talking during lunch, bus duty, etc... will help students to form those bonds with me and each other.

I'm really trying to stay positive for this second semester. The first semester was very rough but I'm determined to have a positive second half of the school year. Cheers to December!!

In the midst of fall!

These past couple of months have been a real challenge for me. I'm definetly dealing with a lot of behavior issues within my class and still trying to adjust working in a new and challeging environment. However, I have experienced some highs this month. The first is slowly being able to build connections with my kids. I have been having small group and one on one quick convos with some of students to get to know them a little better. I find that when I really have the opportunity to get to know my students their behavior improves and when they do act out in class I can deal with their negative behavior a little easier. Secondly, I had a really good conversation with one of my students' parents. It was a good opportunity to hear her talk about the things she wants for her son and allowing her to express her frustrations. After the meeting I really felt more committed to supporting him in everyway possible.

I want to continue with the trend of building connections in my class but I also want my classroom learning environment to improve. I feel as though behavior problems have gotten in the way of students learning in class. On the upside, I'm really anxious to implement our TICC/Action Research Plan b/c I believe it's really going to be helpful and address the needs of our classroom culture. I feel as though if our class can get to a point where students learn to respect each other and control their behavior, we can have some dynamic experiences in the classroom.

On a personal note, I'm also trying to focus on making sure I take care of myself so I can be the best for my students. Not only do I deserve to be happy, restful, and confident, but my students deserve a teacher who is giving her best. I know I'm not at my best when I'm highly stressed and overwhelemd (which is what I've been feeling a lot of lately). So one of my focusses moving forward through the year is to take care of myself and make sure I have a work/ personal life balance to be the best I can be for me and my students :)  

The first few weeks of school

Weeks ago I was really excited to start the new school year off. I was really anxious to implement all of what I learned from my previous year of teaching and enter my into my second year of teaching with more confidence and more effective instructional methods. However, as I reflect back on my first few weeks of teaching I have to admit that this year has proven to be more challenging then my first year.

My first few weeks I've felt that there has been an overwhelming amount of lows with a few celebrations. My celebrations are that I've been given a really great opportunity to implement  science journals in my classroom that we learned from Dr. Jarrett's class. Although, I'm not explicitly teaching science to my students, my school participates in STEM Friday every Friday in which we do a day long science project. After reading through nurturing inquiry and going through Dr. Jarrett's class, I've been able to implement a lot of what I learned in her class in my own classroom. I feel I can also celebrate the fact that implementing my position on learning much sooner this year then I did last year. As we were constructing our position statements last year, I realized that I really want my classroom to be a constructive based classroom. This past week I feel as though my classroom was moving more towards that goal. I implemented learning stations in our classroom in which students were able to conduct their own research and record their findings through individual activities in each station. They learn so much more from working together with each other and through their own inquiry.



While I feel as though my instructional practice is improving, my classroom culture and behavior management have been very challenging. After reading Conscious Discipline and going through Dr.  K's course of culturally relevant pedagogy, I realize how important it is to build culture in the classroom and provide a comfortable and safe environment for my students. Lately however, I have not felt comfortable with my classroom environment at all. Students' behavior with language, aggression, and constant class disruption I feel have gotten in the way of  creating a real learning rich environment for my students . 

Additionally, I haven't been able to develop a relationship with my students either. I've tried to implement opportunities such as morning meetings, and lunch in the classroom to create opportunities for us to bond. However, these opportunities have been limited because of time constraints or simply because I need a daily break from my students because of behavior issues.

Honestly, these first few weeks have been physically , emotionally and mentally draining for me. I've seen my school's environment seep into my classroom in which I find myself yelling at students and having very little patience. I've been trying to implement more positive language and praising the positive in my class to increase more of what I want from my students. 

I'm hoping that with consistency, patience, and a lot of positive reinforcement my classroom environment will begin to shift and I can start to feel a sense of peace and confidence in my classroom and to create a better learning environment for my students.